The Chiltern Breakfast League (CBL) season came to an end yesterday with the annual CBL Challenge Cup competition which this year was hosted by Waterstock Golf Club, near Thame. In this competition all 16 clubs compete together in a stableford competition with teams of 7 players comprising three four ball better ball pairs and one singles player. To level the playing field in the final scoring the visiting teams all drop the score of their lowest performing pair whereas the home team, Waterstock, drop their best performing pairs score. So, three scores to count.
Our team comprised Bob Darvill, Barry Woledge, John Verrall, Dean Herritty, Gavin Adams, Jim Findlay and Pete Major and some sterling golf was played by all team members. So good was our golf that we scored 112 points overall and for a very long time we were the leading team in the clubhouse. Winning the trophy was not to be however as we were pipped quite literally at the post by Oakland Park who came in with 113 points.
Runner Up out of 16 teams is an outstanding result for PRGC but we were so close to winning and our disappointment was palpable. To make matters worse Bob Darvill and Barry Woledge were, for most of the day, the leading pair having secured 44 points. No mean feat that (playing off 5 and 11) but once again an Oakland Park pair sneaked in at the death with 45 points!! Ouch!!
In the end our winnings on the day were restricted to a bottle of champagne for Dean Herritty who secured nearest the pin!! Well done Dean but scant reward for a great team effort.
The league Championship played over the whole season was in the end won by Wycombe Heights who beat Stocks in the final. Wycombe Heights were in our division through the league season and PRGC are one of the few clubs to beat Wycombe Heights this year. Having won at home quite comfortably in very windy conditions, Wycombe Heights came to PRGC expecting to win again, only to be walloped by the home team. A great win that and we can also claim another win by beating them in the Challenge Cup yesterday. No prizes but plenty of bragging rights!!
Our team performed very well this year and thanks go to all 24 members who played in the various matches. Our star player this year has been Neil Martin who with 8 wins was awarded League Player of the Year. Neil receives a silver salver so we did in the end secure some silverware for our efforts in 2019. Well done to Neil.
Our next CBL excursion will be in the 2019/20 winter Knock Out. We play Mill Green on Saturday 16 November so lets hope we can continue our excellent form.
